John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, along with the Deputy Kenny and other speakers, welcome the Bill and express my support for its provisions. I wish to make a couple of points. First, I will start where Deputy Kenny finished. We need to ensure the additional powers and responsibilities being conveyed upon the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, are followed by sufficient funding and resources to ensure they are implemented. I welcome the changes being made to allow officers extra powers of investigation and, in certain circumstances, surveillance. It is important resources are provided to those officers to ensure they can carry out their work.

Several people have spoken about white-collar crime. I share their views. This Bill is a significant step in the right direction in that regard. I welcome in particular section 6, which outlines the additional investigation procedures in respect of the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg. I suspect every Member of the House often receives queries from members of the public regarding the provision of phone and broadband services, in particular. The ability of ComReg to operate in a more active sense can only be a positive in terms of ensuring a proper service is delivered in every corner of the country, in particular telecommunications of different sorts.

I want to focus my attention on two specific areas. Deputy Crowe mentioned the lack of competition in the insurance sector and issues surrounding that. It is fair to say that, over the past 12 months or more, we have seen a significant decrease in the amounts awarded by the courts in respect of accidents, public liability and the category of insurance claim that falls into the trip and fall category. Some insurers have passed on those savings to their customers. However, that has not happened in all cases. This issue was brought home to me recently by people who are involved in operating play centres for children at community level. Those who ensure the provision of public active recreational spaces, whether commercial or community groups, find the cost of insurance crippling. I am not convinced enough is being done by the CCPC and others to ensure we have a properly functioning insurance market.

Deputy Crowe mentioned flood cover, and his comments apply everywhere in a somewhat haphazard set of circumstances. Some people can, despite their premises being flooded every couple of years, still retain insurance. Perhaps they have historic cover they are keeping in place. A broker recently managed to get insurance for a building I did not think would get it from an underwriter outside of the State. The Government and its arms, like the CCPC, have to do more to ensure businesses and family homes that are open to the prospect of flooding can be insured. Like everyone else in the House, I am aware of the extensive funding invested by the Office of Public Works, OPW, and local authorities throughout the country in flood relief schemes. We could all names parts of our constituencies that have significant difficulties.

My final point is, in many respects, the main point. It is broader in scope than the terms of the Bill, but I will raise it while the Minister of State is here. I refer to banking and financial services. I am fortunate enough to have been a Member of the Oireachtas for 20 years, but the changes I have seen in the past two or three years in my county, Kilkenny, are quite remarkable. Kilkenny city still has branches of the major financial institutions, but outside of the city, ten bank branches have closed. The two that have remained open are cashless. To be perfectly honest, people of a certain age, including those who want human contact when they are dealing with financial matters, find that cashless services do not provide them with that opportunity.

I welcome the fact the Minister, Deputy Humphreys, is trying to work with the Department of Social Protection to ensure the post office network remains intact and strong throughout the country. However, I deeply regret that our financial institutions, many of which were supported by the taxpayer when they were in difficulty, have completely withdrawn from provincial Ireland across the board. A market town with a population of 3,000 or 4,000 traditionally had banks buildings that were permanent physical entities. When they are lost, it creates issues not just in terms of access to financial services but also leaves a glaring hole in the physical make-up of towns or large villages.

A broader issue in which the CCPC may have a role is the withdrawal of commercial banking operations from the State as a whole. We saw that happen recently with KBC and Ulster Bank. The lack of competition in financial services leaves us open to the potential for anti-competitive practices in the future. The CCPC, in conjunction with the Department and Government, needs to do more to ensure we have strong competition and new entrants into the banking sector in the State.

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